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SWATARA TOWNSHIP — One spring day 30 years ago, Mary Osborn rose early to share breakfast with her husband before he left for an out-of-town construction job. At his car just before 6 a.m., he called her name.

“He said, ‘Come out here and smell the air.'” Osborn recalled. “Sometimes we could smell the chocolate from the Hershey’s factory, or the cows up on the hill.” She walked outside and was struck immediately by a sharp metallic tang.

“The air was still. There were no birds. Usually at that time of year, they’re chattering away in the morning,” Osborn said. “All we could smell and taste was metal.”